Luke Cage
Carl Lucas is the son of James Lucas as well as a childhood friend of Willis Stryker who, while he was still serving as a policeman from Savannah, Georgia, was wrongfully convicted for a crime he did not commit and sent into Seagate Prison, where he met and fell in love with therapist Reva Connors who tried to make his time in jail easier. During his time inside prison, Lucas was then subjected to an experiment by Noah Burstein to save his life after Albert Rackham tried to kill him, leaving Lucas physically enhanced with superhuman strength and seemingly unbreakable skin. After he escaped from his prison, he changed his name to Luke Cage and then moved to New York City, marrying Connors who agreed to protect him, opening up a bar named Luke's and living in there until Connors' death seemingly due to a random bus crash. Months later while he was trying to live quietly, Cage came across the private investigator Jessica Jones during her own investigation and started a new relationship with her. However Cage was then forced to break up their relationship upon discovering that Jones was involved in the murder of his wife due to the influence of Kilgrave. Following his encounter with Jones and Kilgrave, he then moved from Hell's Kitchen into Harlem in order to build a new life away from Jones, working for Pop. However his own life became more complicated due to the actions of Cottonmouth, whose henchman Tone killed Pop in cold blood, which had started a war between the pair which only ended when Cottonmouth was discovered dead. Blamed for Cottonmouth's murder, Cage was forced to go on the run, hunted by his ally Detective Misty Knight as well as his former friend Willis Stryker, who had returned to tell Cage they were brothers before attempting to kill him. Eventually Cage cleared his name and defeated Stryker but he was still arrested by the police to continue his original sentence at Seagate Prison. Being released early by Foggy Nelson, Cage finally returned back home in Harlem and to Claire Temple, only to then uncover all of the secret criminal activities of the Hand while Cage had been investigating the murder of Sean Miller and encountering the Iron Fist. Together with the aid of Jones and Daredevil, Cage then helped destroy the Hand to protect New York City, while seemingly losing Daredevil. As Cage's popularity grew within Harlem following the defeat of Cottonmouth and Diamondback, he was forced to deal with the ever rising threat of Mariah Dillard who had taken over the criminal empire from Harlem's Paradise and found herself targeted by Bushmaster, an enhanced criminal willing to kill innocents to destroy Dillard, while Cage also dealt with his struggling relationship with Claire Temple and the return of his father James Lucas. Cage eventually defeated Dillard and Bushmaster, causing Bushmaster to return to Jamaica without killing Dillard, while she was sent to prison. However, when Dillard was poisoned by her own daughter, Tilda Johnson, Cage was given Harlem's Paradise and became the new crime boss of Harlem, with the intention of protecting Harlem from crime by controlling it. Biography Personality Keeping a low profile, avoiding altercations that might attract suspicious or police activity and generally remaining as normal a person he can be, Luke Cage tends to be aloof, mysterious and sometimes cold due to having to remain as physically and emotionally distant as possible to keep his tragic and violent past from catching up with him in the present. Whilst attempting to lead a normal life, in some situations like running his own bar in Hell's Kitchen or in Harlem, Cage is capable of being sociable and genial but ultimately makes few friends on a whole. His choice to fight crime was only due to Pop's death, as he was guilty over his striving to lead a normal life leading to someone close to him dying. Beforehand, Pop had to refer to the debt Cage owed him for keeping his secret to get him to help Chico Diaz. Also, he strove not become too exposed lest his past as Carl Lucas be revealed and he'd be imprisoned yet again. Viewing his abilities as a curse, Cage dreads to use his super-strength and durability, that is unless the situation is absolutely necessary, as he only "protects himself and what's his". This mentality is evident when he fights off several opponents in his bar, unknowingly revealing his abilities to a group of patrons and when he agreed to find Antoine Grier for his sister. Jaded as he is, Cage is a good man at heart and a loyal friend to the few he has. He is also impeccably polite, respectful, and does his best not to upset others. Cage also loved his wife, Reva Connors dearly as she was the only thing during his time at Seagate that gave him hope and kept him sane. When she was killed, he was said to have become obsessed over discovering how it happened. He was even dragged out of the MTA by eight guards when he angrily confronted the administrator there, Serena Grier, to find out more about the crash and she was unable to calm him down. When confronting the man (who supposedly) killed Reva, Cage, blinded by love for his wife and rage, reveals his super abilities with the full intention of murdering him, although he did have enough restraint to calm himself down from attacking Jessica Jones when it was revealed she was the one that killed Reva but scolded her quite harshly over this confession. Upon discovering that Reva had lied to him all along and was aware of the experimentation at Seagate and also recommended him to the experiment that gave him super strength, Cage is deeply disturbed and completely moves on from her death, claiming the memory of Reva was now ruined but he still loved the idea of her. He was very protective of his Hell's Kitchen bar, Luke's due to it being the only memory of Reva he had left, keeping it clean and protecting it from damage. When Kilgrave had him destroy his bar, leaving him with no real connection to Hell's Kitchen, Cage left to live a new life in Harlem. He has engaged in relationships with other women after Reva such as Gina, Jessica Jones, Misty Knight and Claire Temple but he still loves his wife even after her death. Despite this slight promiscuous side, Cage treats women with utmost respect as Knight was flattered by the way he looked into her eyes rather than breasts whilst staking out Cottonmouth wearing a low-cut dress In battling criminals, Cage is confident and humorous due to knowing that he cannot be injured or killed in combat or by guns. Whilst usually quiet, such as during his attack on Crispus Attucks, he is not above a sarcastic or witty comment. When Zip and several other criminals were holding up the Lin's Chinese restaurant, Cage reprimands Zip for his harsh tone of voice and disrespect towards Connie before fighting them. Similarly when confronting Domingo Colon at his boxing ring and Colon's goons drew their guns on him, Cage only reacts by saying that "they hadn't heard of him" and stating dryly that "he was tired of buying new clothes" after being shot by them. According to Claire, he is corny due to his constant one-liners and humorous remarks. Cage often destroys firearms when given the chance, either after or during a fight, sometimes even before combat begins. Due to gaining his powers by accident and doing his best not to use them, therefore not training himself how to use them, Cage does not entirely know the limits of his own abilities which has led him to break bones, sending enemies flying into the air and through walls and land almost-fatal punches. He even attacked a large group of opponents with a sofa and threw it at a gunman, though it missed and crashed out a window instead. Fortunately, he has not killed anyone but this is by Cage's own restraint as murder will get him back into the police system, eventually creating a line that Luke Cage is Carl Lucas and will be imprisoned yet again. He acknowledged that while he would want to not have to use restraint, it would kill his opponents if he did not when warning Zip and his men not to fight him. One way he limits the amount of damage he does to his opponents is slapping them unconscious. Because Cage does not tend to classify himself or his actions as heroic, though on several occasions he has displayed the willingness to kill such as ambushing Charles Wallace whom he thought had killed Reva. Also, when a wounded and dying Rafael Scarfe revealed that he killed Chico Diaz, Luke began strangling Scarfe to death without any emotion on his face until Claire Temple reminded him that he was not a killer. When confronting Turk Barrett on ratting out Chico and inadvertently leading Tone to shooting and killing Pop, he spared his life despite threatening to crush him and then nearly crushing a dumpster with Turk in it to get him to reveal Diamondback's location before leaving him trapped in it. This murderous side is prominently evident whenever he loses emotional control which causes Cage to become carelessly destructive with his super-abilities to anything or anyone around him. An example of this is when he destroyed Noah Burstein's entire barn upon learning that Reva was included on his accident, seemingly not caring if Burnstein was caught in between his rampage. Unlike the rest of New York's vigilantes, such as Daredevil and Spider-Man, he does not have a secret identity or costume and his hero work is seen in the light of day among Harlem's citizens. Although initially remaining discrete whilst planning to bring down Stokes, he eventually revealed his identity and what he was doing after surviving Cottonmouth's assassination attempt on his life to prove his lack of fear thereof and to inspire others to move forward the same way Pop did to him. When deciding to keep helping people more, however he considers a costume but Claire Temple encourages him to remain in the light as too much in Harlem already happens in the shadows, with the unsaid addendum that most of these shadowy acts are criminal in nature. Seeing a normal man stand up would give hope to its citizens rather than just a symbol of fear for its enemies. With inspiration from his friends, Cage gives up his secretive lifestyle to finally do some good, becoming a "man of the people" figure who isn't afraid to be seen in the light of day, openly fighting criminals such as the like of Cottonmouth and Diamondback. Cage has a fondness for basketball and reading, with his favorite genre being detective stories. Despite foregoing his former identity, Cage still has some qualities of his personality associated to the like of a son of a preacher. He has a dislike for cursing and he kept Pop's swear jar after his death to keep his memory alive and forced anyone who cursed in his presence to add money. He even salvaged it from the wreckage of Connie Lin's restaurant when Cottonmouth destroyed it due to the emotional connection of his dead friend. In addition most of Cage's favorite songs are censored due to being heavily profane by nature. The alias of "Luke Cage" was also derived from his favorite bible verse that his father taught him. Powers and Abilities Artificially Enhanced Physiology: Luke Cage underwent an experiment and came out with heightened physical abilities, most noticeably his amazing strength and durability. The experiment was meant for the creation of artificial skin for burn victims with a CRISPR process to fuse a subject's DNA with another, foreign DNA (abalone shell) to gain its attributes, specifically to genetically enhance the durability, pliability, and healing properties of human epidermis. His skin cells were bonded with hydrogen covalent bonds at the exact point of acidity, temperature and saline concentration as abalone shell. According to Claire Temple, Luke's epithelial cells are simultaneously superelastic and energy absorbent; the cells that line his organs are stuck together, but when she tries to pull them apart, they snap back together. After his second cellular treatment to remove Judas Bullet shrapnel, Claire theorized the abalone shell on his skin was strengthened. Cottonmouth has compared him to Captain America after viewing his powerful performances of protecting Harlem. * Superhuman Strength: Cage possesses strength beyond that of a regular man, which was enhanced even more after having a second experiment done on him. During a fight in his bar where different opponents attacked him, Cage effortlessly tossed them aside and overpowered them with one arm. He is able to punch and dent the auto body of motor vehicles with his fists. He is also able to match or possibly outmatch Jessica Jones in strength, as he had the upper hand through his fight with her while he was under Kilgrave's influence. His strength allows him to easily rag doll, lift, drag and send normal humans flying. Cage can tear through steel like tissue paper, break bones with a swift kick, punch through solid brick walls, break guns in his hands with ease, knock a person unconscious with a slap to the head, kick down almost any door, bend metal bars and lift massive concrete blocks and heavy machinery, such as washing machines and refrigerators. During a battle with the Stylers, Cage kicked a car several yards with enough force to send an enemy flying upon impact. Despite his strength, he is not invincible and can be overpowered by normal humans in large numbers, as eight guards managed to drag him out of the MTA when he went to Serena Grier to find out more about his wife's death. Len Sirkes and his men managed to hold him down and strike him repeatedly until he got the upper hand due to his durability and stamina allowing him to outlast his weaker opponents. His power and restraint of it are believed to be at least somewhat connected to his own emotional state as he lost control of his strength when he discovered that Reva was involved in his experiment and destroyed Noah Burstein's entire barn in distress upon discovery of this revelation. ** Super Leaps: Cage is able to leap great heights and distances due to the superhuman strength in his legs. He measured 24 feet in attempting the broad jump, 11 feet longer than the world record. This also allowed him to jump several feet in the air over a bar stand while he shielded Misty Knight from gunfire. * Superhuman Durability: Cage has extremely durable skin, and his nigh-limitless resilience is enough to withstand using his strength to easily break stone and metal without injury. He is virtually impervious to all forms of physical harm, injury or pain. He has nigh-indestructible and impenetrable anatomy. The durability of his cells can be likened to those found on abalone shells, due to their structure and super elasticity. Cage demonstrates this durability to Jessica Jones by using a circular saw against his own stomach, and he survived both being stabbed in the neck and being shot with a shotgun, neither of which could break his skin. A doctor's drill began to smoke when drilling against his skin. Cage's skin is also fire resistant, as demonstrated by his being able to withstand two point-blank explosions and not feel a thing when he emerged while on fire. He was even able to withstand a point-blank explosion from a grenade in both of his hands, remaining unharmed. Shots from handguns and machine guns at point-blank range caused Luke minor discomfort at times, which only managed to anger him while in combat. Luke has been shot point-blank with multiple high-caliber machine guns, with the bullets simply ricocheting off of his skin. He even had an entire building fall on top of him, fell from a height of over 30 feet and cracked the ground upon landing and had a car crash right into him, all of which left him unscathed. The only known thing that able to pierce Cage's skin is the Judas Bullet, and though the bullet would have exploded a normal human, Cage managed to barely survive two of them. It is also virtually impossible for a normal human to overpower Cage, as displayed when even Danny Rand wasn't able to damage Cage with his martial arts due to his bulletproof skin and had to resort to using his Iron Fist technique. As a result of the second treatment, Judas Bullets have stopped working entirely, causing only discomfort. Also, Claire Temple was able to stick a needle behind his eye, along his optic nerve and into his cranium to drain out cerebral spinal fluid in his head, meaning the tissues deeper into his skin can be more vulnerable. She and Noah Burstein also stuck a syringe down Luke's throat to puncture his mucus membrane and get a blood sample for testing. In addition, individuals with superhuman strength, such as Diamondback (with powered armor), can injure him. After having a second experiment done on him, Luke's skin became even more resistant to external damage as Judas Bullets could no longer penetrate it. Having been shot at countless times, Luke has learned how to take advantage of the ricocheting bullets off his skin as a means of offense, to hit people with their own bullet. However, he is still susceptible to drowning, starvation, suffocation, and dehydration. * Superhuman Stamina: Cage was able to swim from Seagate Prison to shore without stopping, a task deemed impossible for any man. Cage was also able to attack multiple safe houses and engage in multiple fights in the span of a few hours, without showing any signs of tiredness. However, strenuous activity and extended use of his powers do seem to cause Luke to be hungry, as he is seen eating large amounts of food afterward. His stamina allows him to easily outlast his opponents, especially when they are in great number, meaning that even if they manage to overpower him, he could still manage to get the upper hand. * Enhanced Speed: Cage can run at speeds exceeding that of the finest human athlete. He was able to complete the forty-meter sprint in 3.72 seconds, which is faster than Usain Bolt's record. He was also shown capable of running fast enough to intercept a speeding vehicle to save Claire and Scarfe. * Accelerated Healing Factor: The original procedure Cage went under was designed to accelerate tissue regrowth in its subjects; as a result, Cage's body heals at an accelerated rate. During the experiment, all of the injuries and physical damages that he had were healed to perfect condition, leaving his body without scars, within moments. Cage also healed from two gunshot wounds inflicted by the Judas Bullet without retaining scars in a matter of hours, though he needed the shrapnel from the bullets removed beforehand. In a few hours, he completely recovered from brain hemorrhaging and cerebral edema, caused by a shotgun blast against his chin that Jessica Jones used to knock him out, while Claire Temple had to drain cerebral spinal fluid from his eye while he had a seizure and noted that moving him could kill him to Jessica Jones. Although he needed the help of Tilda Johnson, Cage was able to heal his internal injuries after getting knocked down by Bushmaster, a man of great superhuman strength and fighting ability. * Expert Investigator: Due to his time as a police officer, Cage has expert detective skills. He was able to track down Chico Diaz in 4 hours, a task neither the police or Cottonmouth could accomplish. While trying to undermine Cottonmouth's operations, he began taking jobs from the people who Cornell had brought trouble for. Many of these jobs included having to track down missing items. * Expert Combatant: Due to training with Willis Styker in boxing at a very young age, receiving combat training in the military, and further honing his skills in an underground fighting ring at Seagate Prison, Luke Cage is a highly skilled combatant, able to easily get the upper hand on unarmed opponents. This allowed him to defeat Comanche and Shades when they attacked him in his sleep, though they were not trying to kill him and were unarmed. When forced to fight for Albert Rackham, he defeated several skilled and athletic fighters and was one of the best fighters in Rackham's secret fights. He has training in hand-to-hand combat, bare knuckle boxing, boxing and street fighting. Since the experiment that physically enhanced him, Cage resorts to using his strength while fighting, but he is nevertheless a skilled combatant, using brawling and street fighting techniques, especially when he does not want to injure his opponents. He has demonstrated using joint locks on people he does not want to hurt. His skills have even allowed him to keep up with and gain the upper hand at times against Bushmaster, a master martial artist in his own right.